ONE CEO’S TOP 5 REASONS TO ATTEND THE 2010 HR TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE

So, why exactly has the HR Technology Conference & Exposition become the industry’s can’t-miss annual event? Here are five reasons from the perspective of the CEO of an exhibitor (we’ll be at Booth 337 if you want to discuss the latest in outplacement or recruitment strategies) —

Technology is more vital than ever. There’s a reason tickets are selling faster than ever before in the conference’s 13-year history. From recruitment to management to outplacement, the HR function is more automated than ever, and software has become specialized to a point no one could have imagined even a decade ago. What’s more, there’s now a whole spectrum of social media that HR staff must understand and utilize. The HR technology game is constantly changing, and training rarely keeps up with the times. More and more, it’s conferences like this where staffers get their real understanding of the new tools of their trade.

It’s a business conference, not an IT conference. HR professionals don’t want to go to an IT conference. That’s why the conference organizers don’t focus on digital 0s and 1s, but on dollars and cents. When you go, for instance, to the conference’s “Twitterversity,” it’s not a dry, academic lecture; it’s a hands-on training class where you learn how to use the platform in your daily work and life. It’s practical, not technical.

The agenda is focused on what matters most. The conference concentrates on the three areas of HR technology — talent management, social media, and HCM and workforce planning — that organizers have judged to be most critical to the industry. So, for instance, you’ll see Oracle showing off it’s next-gen HCM for the first time; learn how to get the most out of Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks; and hear what hundreds of users think about their talent management system vendors when Bersin & Associates reveals the new rankings from their second annual report.

You’ll get answers to the questions that keep you up at night. This year’s conference incorporates input from almost 2,000 members of its LinkedIn group, which helps organizers to get right to the problems, questions and strategy decisions that HR professionals are up against right now. One of the organizers’ key promises is to go beyond buzzwords and hype, to real knowledge and solutions that can be applied every day.

You’ll meet smart people. Conference co-chair Bill Kutik calls Naomi Lee Bloom “the smartest person about HR technology in the world,” and the fact that she is featured in a debate over technology that will cover everything from workforce planning and analytics to the convergence of social software with enterprise applications is indicative of the caliber of talent that will be featured at this year’s conference, in a wide-ranging spectrum of discussions, debates and panels.

So there you go. Oh, and can I add a No. 6? We’ll be at Booth 337 if you want to discuss the latest in outplacement and recruitment. 🙂